This invention relates to a knee-supporting brace and more particularly to a knee-supporting means especially adapted to assist a physically handicapped person with reduced muscle strength in the leg.
Knee-supporting means disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,072,369 and 2,267,848 include a stirrup-like member to be securely attached to a leg and are of a relatively complicated structure. A person with weakness in the knee, however, generally has little trouble in bending the knee, for example, to sit down from a standing position because the gravitational force exerted on the upper torso tends to facilitate the lowering of the center of mass of the person. To stand up from a sitting position, by contrast, the person must act against the gravitational force by straightening the knees to stretch the legs. A physically handicapped person frequently finds the need for a supporting means in such situations.